Browse dictionary
Showing 1-20 of 276 results in 276 entries
1. Aberdonian, adj. and n. View full entry 1615
...Of, belonging to, or characteristic of a person from Aberdeen, a city in north-east Scotland. In later use sometimes depreciative, with reference to the supposed parsimoniousness of people from Aberdeen....
2. album, n.2 View full entry 1612
...A book in which contributions (such as signatures, memorial verses, and epigrams) are inscribed for the owner, esp. as mementos or keepsakes. Also more generally: a collection of literary items. Also ...
3. aldermanikin, n. View full entry 1640
...A little or young alderman....
4. alimony, n. View full entry c1613
...Law. Provision for the maintenance of a (former) spouse made by a husband (occas. a wife) after divorce or legal separation or during proceedings for these....
5. amusement, n. View full entry 1611
...Musing, mental abstraction, reverie. Obs....
6. anile, adj. View full entry 1652
...Of or like an old woman, old-womanish; (also) ‘imbecile’....
7. † ˈaphorismer, n. View full entry 1641
...A dealer in aphorisms. (contemptuous.)...
8. armchair | ˌarm-ˈchair, n. View full entry 1633
...A chair with arms: see arm9....
9. † astrologaster, n. View full entry 1620
...An astrologer....
10. † auf(e, n. View full entry 1621
...An elf's child, a goblin child, a changeling left by the fairies; (hence) a misbegotten, deformed, or ‘idiot’ child; a half-wit, a simpleton. Cf. ouphe...
11. babyish, adj. View full entry 1646
...Characteristic of or suitable for a baby or young child; infantile, excessively childish; unsophisticated, silly. Also: resembling (that of) a baby or young child....
12. Babylonism, n. View full entry 1610
...derogatory. The doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church; Roman Catholicism. See Babylon1. Obs.rare....
13. banging, n.1 View full entry 1647
...The action of striking violently and noisily....
14. bavian, n. View full entry a1625
...Usu. with capital initial. A character in a morris dance representing a baboon, and typically engaging in wild, foolish, or lewd behaviour....
15. ˈbeefˌeater, n. View full entry 1610
...An eater of beef; contemptuously, a well-fed menial. (Properly with hyphen, beef-eater.)...
16. † beˈsonio | beˈsognio, n. View full entry 1603
...A raw soldier....
17. blooter, n. View full entry c1600
...A fool; an oaf, a blunderer; a noisy or babbling person (cf. blatter). Also as a general term of abuse....
18. blue-stocking, n. View full entry a1683
...attrib. Wearing blue worsted (instead of black silk) stockings; hence, not in full dress, in homely dress. (contemptuous.)...
19. bluff, adj. View full entry 1627
...Presenting a broad flattened front; esp....
20. † ˈBorborite, n. View full entry 1659
...One of the names, or nicknames, given to certain Ophitic Gnostics, referring, according to Epiphanius, to their unclean living (but various other explanations are offered); in 16–17th c. used as a term...
